Reviews

Apparently there were goth-like aesthetes in the early part of the century? Who knew? Other than that, a fairly predictable romp where stealing a cursed item from a grave leads to certain doom.

ladyk23's review against another edition

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3.0

I think this is the first H.P. Lovecraft story I've 'read' and having listened to an audio version of it on the Classic Ghost Stories Podcast, I'm not sure if it would have been better as a physical read, or if I enjoyed it more because I listened to it rather than reading it?

It uses quite a lot of very flowery language (which is where I imagine physically reading it might become quite the chore), but the visuals used are quite striking. I discussed with my friend on here actually how we think this story in particular would benefit from a film or television adaptation for that reason. I'm surprised it hasn't already been done to be honest but maybe the language put people off.

Of this particular story I’m not sure what I was expecting, having not read any Lovecraft before, but I felt somewhat surprised and disappointed (only mildly in both instances) by what the story was actually about. I felt the idea of stealing a thing and then you’re haunted/hunted because of the bad deed you’d done is a trope that's been told so many times. Especially in Gothic Horror from around this time. Hence the disappointment. But then the story was told slightly differently (here’s where the surprise came in), but then ultimately the story sort of fell flat anyway?

As such it's a hard one to categorise, which is why I've given it a sort of middling 3 stars. I'd definitely read more Lovecraft after reading this one, as I'm still on the fence as to whether I like the writing style or not, but I'd certainly want a bit more of an original story next time.